Suggestions for Open Water Certification Referrals?

[KathyV]

Hi Everyone,
I'm taking my pool and coursework here in Philadelphia, but as my wife is a dive master, I thought it would be more enjoyable to do my open water dives on a trip. Does anyone have any suggestions for US or abroad destinations?

Here are the benefits for coming to south Florida to do your check out dives.

1. No international travel needed. You can even drive and not worry about luggage fees
2. you can drink the water
3. Unless you are completely unlucky you will always have a few dive'able days
4. Your options in S Florida are endless, Jupiter, Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale, Miami, the Keys (all of them. Beach and boat.
5. If you get completely blown out, drive 4/5 hours north and do your check out dives in the springs (Blue Grotto, etc)
6. 100's of Dive operators to choose from.
7. Your options for accommodations range from 5 star resorts to cheap motels and Airbnb's.

Not that traveling to some Caribbean destination wouldnt be cool, but dang, but paying $75 for a cheese burger in the Cayman's is a tad tough on the budget.

@jadairiii That's quite an exaggeration! Cayman is pricey but I've never paid anything near $75 for a cheeseburger in Cayman! My favorite place for a gourmet cheeseburger and fries is the Czech Inn Grill located in Bodden Town on Grand Cayman and it costs $11 CID, see link below, and there are other, cheaper food options available on GC:
https://www.facebook.com/czechincayman/photos/a.1115779425210980/1115779325210990/?type=3&theater

I was just in Florida less than 2 weeks ago, and you can find some expensive cheeseburgers there, too!

You can also safely drink the water in Cayman and there are usually options for diving on various sides of the islands when there are weather issues. One year we drove all over Florida for 2 weeks in the autumn trying to get at least one dive without any luck due to weather.

There are price ranges for accommodations in Cayman also and loads of quality dive ops. And the OP will probably have luggage fees to Florida because if they only have one week it's a pretty long drive from Philly to Florida! And the sea water is warmer in Cayman than in Florida, especially during the winter and spring months.

@FishTankKid I got an email message recently that you can still book the President's Day Sales for selected 2020 dates at the 3 all-inclusive Clearly Cayman Resorts through March 6, see the link below.

They have resorts on Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac and the all-inclusive packages include food, diving, accommodations, transfers, taxes, and hotel service charges (per person, double occupancy).

If you are looking for a Spring Break/Easter getaway those dates are listed for the Cayman Brac Beach Resort but I don't know if they still have availability.

Presidents' Day Dive Vacation Special

 

[TMHeimer]

If you're talking driving to FL don't forget the "Tundra"-- Panhandle-Destin,PCB, Pensacola. I enjoyed a few courses at Emerald Coast Scuba in Destin. Accomodations take a big leap up come April, as now it is the "on" season. But, you can easily dive all winter there -- especially if you're a northerner.
If OTOH you'd fly to FL, I'd choose S. Florida first-- more tropical though 400 miles more.

 

[jonhall]

but paying $75 for a cheese burger in the Cayman's is a tad tough on the budget.

That must be some special meat!!!

My favorite place for a gourmet cheeseburger and fries is the Czech Inn located in Bodden Town on Grand Cayman and it costs $11 CID, see link below:

@KathyV Have you been holding out on us? I don't think I've ever seen where you mentioned this place before. I'm putting it on my list of places to go - in less than 2 months now!! Thanks!!

My favorite place is Kurt's Corner on Frank Sound Rd. (the road that runs N-S on the East End.) They have great daily specials (curry grouper, coconut shrimp, bbq chicken, fish and chips to name a few) that run about $12.50 US.

So to keep this in line with the thread, I'd again recommend GC as a possible place for those check out dives.

 

[Damselfish]

paying $75 for a cheese burger in the Cayman's is a tad tough on the budget.

It's only $75 if you have 4-5 margaritas with it.

 

[ChuckP]

You're going to pay for the referral, for the checkout dives, and lose two days of diving on your trip. It may make more sense to do the whole thing locally, check your numbers.

That's not true a all.

PADI OW is five open water dives.

Dive one can be the skills review and dive one, dives 2-3 and 4-5 will be done from a boat just like any other dive. You do not loose days in the water. The extra money you pay for the referal dives covers the cost of a private DM (your instructor) and the PADI certification.

A new open water diver is suggested to have a private DM here anyways........

 

[VsubT]

Does anyone have any suggestions for US or abroad destinations?

Key Largo is a great option for this. Easy travel, lots of operators, reef maximum depths appropriate for OW, and a reasonable amount of fish + coral life to see.

You could also knock out AOW and/or nitrox on a single trip there if you’re into that.

Have fun wherever you go!

Lance

 

[KathyV]

That must be some special meat!!!



@KathyV Have you been holding out on us? I don't think I've ever seen where you mentioned this place before. I'm putting it on my list of places to go - in less than 2 months now!! Thanks!!

My favorite place is Kurt's Corner on Frank Sound Rd. (the road that runs N-S on the East End.) They have great daily specials (curry grouper, coconut shrimp, bbq chicken, fish and chips to name a few) that run about $12.50 US.

So to keep this in line with the thread, I'd again recommend GC as a possible place for those check out dives.

We've been to Kurt's Corner and enjoyed the coconut shrimp!

The owner of the Czech Inn is a former hockey player from the Czech Republic who was the Head Chef at two of the most prestigious, fine-dining restaurants on Grand Cayman - Morgan's Harbour and Grand Old House. He decided to get a place of his own and bought a roadside restaurant in Bodden Town, see link below:
https://www.caymancompass.com/2017/01/11/czech-inn-grill-opens-in-bodden-town/

Initially he didn't have a liquor license and you'd BYOB or buy liquor at a small store next door, but when we were there in late October they had just gotten their liquor license. I heard that they shut down for awhile (after we left) to do some remodeling, including adding locked storage for the booze, but I haven't seen the place since it re-opened. I am sure that it is still quaint and delicious and reasonably priced!

There's a couple of other good casual places to dine in Bodden Town including the Grapetree Café fish fry on the water:
http://www.grapetreecafe.ky/

and Rankins Jerk Centre:
https://www.caymangoodtaste.com/restaurants_detail.asp?restaurantID=89

To keep this on topic, @FishTankKid there's a lot of fun to be had in the Caymans including beautiful diving and it is a safe, clean place to travel with good roads and modern facilities; it would be a terrific place to do your checkout dives.

 

[TMHeimer]

That's not true a all.

PADI OW is five open water dives.

Dive one can be the skills review and dive one, dives 2-3 and 4-5 will be done from a boat just like any other dive. You do not loose days in the water. The extra money you pay for the referal dives covers the cost of a private DM (your instructor) and the PADI certification.

A new open water diver is suggested to have a private DM here anyways........

PADI OW is four water dives. To my knowledge has been so for decades, including the 4 years I assisted on those checkouts. Unless they've changed things, which I guess is possible.
Goes like this:
Dive 1-- some skills.
Dive 2-- some more skills
Dive 3-- some more skills, maybe a bit of swimming around.
Dive 4-- the "mini dive" where students plan and execute it all with a pro just trailing & keeping an eye on them (this came in about 2015).
Prior to "mini dive", dive 4 was to finish skills and then a "tour" for maybe 20 minutes (?).
So, I presume dives 1-3 have more skills than they used to because there are none on the "mini dive" (dive 4).

This is an approximation-- if I'm off a bit an active instructor/DM can correct me.
Either way, you're spending 2 days of 2 dives each doing skills instead of just diving around.
I believe you can do 3 dives in one day and one the next day, but that's splitting hairs.

ChuckP, Are you saying you do all the OW skills on dive one and 2-5 are just regular boat dives with no skills? Can't be, but that's how I read it.
I can see where if it's one on one it could be possible to do all the skills on dive 1.
I'm certainly no PADI Standards expert, but it sounds like doing all skills in one dive is not within them.

 

[SandyRobinson]

If you want to stay in the US, Key Largo would be a great place to go. Dives will be relatively shallow which means more bottom time. Water temp will be a few degrees warmer than the Florida springs and there will be a variety of marine life. Not sure how long the drive would be but KL would be 45 and 90 minutes from the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports respectively.

Where ever you go, have a good trip.

 

[dmaziuk]

That's not true a all.

Which part? The one where you cannot go dive until you complete the whole thing? Or the part where they're not allowed to do more than 2 dives/day, so 5 dives makes 2.5 days before you can go diving?

I expect places where the fee plus your original instructor's referral fee will add up to less than your original shop's charge for the whole course exist on this planet. I'm not sure how easy they are to find though, or whether they exist where the OP is planning to go.

PS what Tom said. I did 4 dives, but that was locally.